I have received my mixtape! Exciting, no?
First thing to mention is that the packaging is awesome. Even the envelope is sweet, as it says 'New Zealand' on it about 6 times, just to reinforce how badass it is. Hell, the stamp has a picture of somewhere called 'Cape Kidnappers'. That's cool. Anyway, open up the envelope, and you get this:
It's bright, it's colorful, it has my name on it. What more could you want? Some sort of guarantee that it's gonna be hellacious, that's what. Fear not, it states that is 'THE BEST CD EVAH * infinity'. This is the kind of reassurance I want, even before you take the '* infinity' into account. So then I open the case. Dry ice billows everywhere, the camera cutting to a higher vantage point in order to get the birds eye view. Emotional piano starts up, and the figure of a crazy, telepathic girl named River takes shape through the white fog. No wait. That's Firefly. This is what was in it:
Tracklist and cunningly origami'd letter. Also, copious liner notes about every song in extremely bright colours. Some serious effort going in here. First impressions from the tracklist:
I've listened to 3 of them before (The Album Leaf, The Flaming Lips and The Arcade Fire). I like the first two, but the arcade fire I thought were kinda meh, even putting aside the massive hype. Most of the rest I've heard of, in a positive way, mainly mentioned on this very forum, but haven't checked out. So now I'll actually know what you guys are talking about. My views will follow. I took notes as I listened and everything. Hardcore.
1. Hot Hot Heat - You Owe Me An IOUTwas funky. The intro was excellent, and the vocals a lot less unpleasant than most bands. Hell, even the bits with singing were pretty good.
2. AC Newman - Miracle DrugAlright. Didn't really do much for me.
3. Decemberists - Los Angeles I'm YoursGrew on me. Still not too sure about the intro, but when the drums kick in it's all good. I only really got into it for the last chorus bit, but on the relisten, the whole song is great. Except the intro.
4. Death Cab for Cutie - TransatlanticismMy friend is always telling me to listen to DCFC, but I've always been hesitant. The singing is alright, but the instrumental interlude bit is pretty kick ass. It's good.
5. Chopin - Prelude No. 15 Op. 28 "Raindrop"As usual with classical music, I appreciate what I'm hearing, but I just can't get fully into it. However, the liner notes state "My favourite composer & song to play on the piano", so I spent most of it going 'Woah, you can play that?' I'm easily impressed by musical talent, probably due to my total lack of it. I was humming it when I ate lunch, so I guess I was into it more than I thought.
6. The Album Leaf - On Your WayI really like The Album Leaf, so this was all good. Not much else to say, as I liked it already
7. The Postal Service - The District Sleeps AloneWow. I love this song. It's got enough glitchy weirdness and bleeps to excite the electronica kid in me, and its also got a funky, bumping groove. I even like the vocals. The switchup at about 2:15 is KICK ASS. Best track on the CD so far. More! I'll check these guys out Fo' Sho'.
8. Modest Mouse - BukowskiMy initial reaction was 'meh'. Second time I listened to it I liked the intro alot, but thought the main song was boring. Third time, quite like it. Still think the intro is better than the main song though.
9. The Exploding Hearts - Sleeping Aides & Razor BladesMy first thought was that teh intro sounded just like Blur - Parklife. But it doesn't really. Not sure why I thought that. Whatever, not great. Bad vocals.
10. The Shins - Know your onionOk. Didn't grab me.
11. The Flaming Lips - Do you realise?The Flaming Lips doing their thing. One of my favourite tracks by them, so yeah. Good stuff.
12. Iron & Wine - Such Great HightsAcoustic guitars and whispery vocals aren't my scene. I like the imagery of the lyrics though. Just need to sing them better over a decent tune.
13. The Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies)I'm not invulnerable to indie hype, so i know that these guys are supposed to be the saviours of the best thing ever. I gave them a try a while back, and thought they were meh, but this is a tune. I'll have to go and recover 'Funeral' from my broken harddrive and give them another go.
14. Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - Timorous MeFor about 2:30, its a great voice and an average song. Then it comes in kinda funky and it's a awesome track. Then it ends. The good bit is too short, only 1:30ish. But it's good.
15. The Black keys - 10AM AutomaticKinda reminded me of The White Stripes, with the retro, raw vibe. Probably blasphemy or something to compare them, which shows how much I know about this kind of music. That's the fell I was getting. Meh song.
16. Wilco - Just a KidOn the Spongebob Squarepants OST apparently. The song's alright. Spongebob is better.
17. The Magnetic Fields - Absolutely CuckooThis song made me laugh, because I was supposed to be revising magnetic fields, among other things, for my Physics exam in a few weeks while I was listening to this CD. The song was alright. My Anecdote was better.
18. Sunny Day Real Estate - 8Louder. The name rings a bell, but I'm not sure where I've heard of them. Uninspired.
19. The Clean - Anything Could HappenToo quiet, unimpressive vocals. Reminds me why I don't like bands with singers, which the rest of the CD was doing a good job of making me forget.
20. Greg Johnson - Ball Gowns & Small TownsNot sure about the 'trippy' effects bit in the middle, or the woman saying "Sometimes you don't know anything until you dance". It sounds like something out of Flashdance, or some crap like that. The rest of the song is good though.
Favourite tracks:
The Postal Service, The Arcade Fire, Decemberists, Hot Hot Heat.
Overall, I really liked the CD. I've listened to it about 4 times now, and I only got it today. I don't like every track, but there aren't any I really dislike, just a few that don't really do anything for me. Loads of stuff I haven't heard before, and some of it was awesome. Bring on the mixtape exchange round 2!
In other news, my fingers are now covered in glitter from the sparkly orange pen in the liner notes, and tired from typing this enormous review up.
Overall Score: scores-out-of-ten-are-silly / 10
